MORE STAGE A PROSTATIC CANCERS, LESS SURGERY FOR BENIGN HYPERTROPHY IN SMOKERS

Records were reviewed of 396 men less than 75 years old with a history of transurethral prostatectomies, known smoking habits, height, weight and no prostate malignancy more advanced than stage A. The 51 men with stage A cancer included more current smokers than the 345 without malignancy (45.1% versus 22.3%, odds ratio 2.9, confidence interval 1.6 to 4.5, p <0.001). Prostatectomy specimens from smokers were smaller than those from nonsmokers (21.4 versus 26.9 gm., p <0.005) and those from cancer patients were smaller than those from men without cancer. Small adenomas included more cancers per kilogram than large adenomas in smokers and nonsmokers. Men with a history of prostatectomy were less often current smokers than 128 men with newly diagnosed colon cancer (22.3% versus 42.2%, odds ratio 0.49, confidence interval 0.27 to 0.77), and less often ever smokers than 325 men from a general internist's office (46.5% versus 55.4%, odds ratio 0.70, confidence interval 0.52 to 0.94). These data suggest smoking as a risk factor for stage A prostatic cancer and confirm smoking abstinence as a risk factor for prostatic hypertrophy requiring surgery.